HL History

Causes of WWII

Hey everyone!

     In our HL European History class, we were assigned to write an essay on the causes of World War II. We were instructed to focus on the 4 main causes of the war: the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler's leadership, the League of Nations and appeasement. I thought it might be helpful if I shared a some of my ideas and research that I incorporated into my essay.

     The Treaty of Versailles: this document was only seen as an agreement to stop fighting. It held no true power in maintaining everlasting peace. The treaty brought about anger and vengeance within the German population, due to the fact that Germany was not able to negotiate the terms. The country was forced to accept the terms, which included extensive reparations and a limit to the size of their army, or else war would be prolonged. The treaty made Germany feel inferior in the post-WWI period, which caused the country to retaliate and take extreme measures to protect itself. Germany felt this way because it lost much of its territory due to the Treaty of Versailles.

     Hitler's leadership: Hitler was part of the Nazi party before World War Two, and stood by many of the party's ideologies. These ideologies included eradicating communism and diminishing the entire population of Jewish people. The German population was fond of Hitler and what he stood for because he was the first person since WWI to show interest in making Germany a major world power once again. Hitler used his popularity to become chancellor. This position led him to take advantage of British and French weakness by re-militarizing the German army.

     The League of Nations: this "new world parliament" was supposed to act as a means of maintaining peace around the world. It was able to do so for the first few years of its existence, but this did not last. Since the United States was not a part of the League, the USSR was only a member for a short period of time, and Germany was allowed to become a member, the League held no authority because it only had the support from two major powers: Britain and France. For this reason, the League could not intervene in any major conflicts, like the island of Corfu incident between Italy and Greece. Therefore, the League lost the respect of many countries and its credibility since it was not able to carry out its mission of maintaining peace.

     Appeasement: this was seen as an issue because British and French statesmen failed to stand up against German demands. Instead, they compromised with Germany and allowed the country to re-arm its military without repercussions. As a result of this, Germany thought that Britain and France would continue to act as a push over and that they would not prevent Germany from breaking the Treaty of Versailles in order to avoid war. They were right. Due to the inaction of those two major powers, Germany began to carry through with its war-provoking plans. 

     I could easily go on and on about the causes of WWII, but this is a shortened version of the main points that were featured in my essay. I hope this helps those of you taking the course!

     Learn more about this topic by visiting History.com or by reading Causes, Practices and Effects of Wars by Mike Wells.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Sophie F.